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Maine Museum Building New Steam Locomotive Gets Big Boost

The Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway wants to build a brand new 2-4-4T like the original that was scrapped in the 1930s. Photo Courtesy of WW&F Railway. 

Maine Museum Building New Steam Locomotive Gets Big Boost

By Railfan & Railroad Staff

ALNA, Maine — A Maine museum building a brand new 2-foot gauge steam locomotive got a big financial boost in August when an anonymous donor gave it $50,000 for the project. The Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum in Alna is trying to build a brand new 2-4-4T locomotive that will be given the number 11. The museum also received $10,000 from the Bluewater Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, which is in the process of disbanding. 

The museum currently has two steam locomotives: WW&F 0-4-4T 9 and 0-4-4T 10. Locomotive 9 worked for three different Maine 2-footers — the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes, Kennebec Central and WW&F — whereas 10 was originally built as a 30-inch gauge locomotive for a Louisiana sugar plantation. Locomotive 10 is currently being rebuilt after the group discovered it would need a new boiler. However, locomotive 10 is smaller than 9 and the museum would like to have two locomotives that can handle larger trains on its line north of Wiscasset. 

A few years ago, members began to hatch a plan to build locomotive 11, which would be a replica of WW&F 7 that was scrapped back in the 1930s. A number of parts have already been built, including wheels. The group has about $42,000 set aside for the project, not counting the two large donations in August. The locomotive is expected to cost $250,000 to build. If everything goes according to plan, the locomotive will be under steam in 2025. For more information and to learn how to donate, visit build11.wwfry.org

This article was posted on: August 19, 2020